As Rohit Sharma decided to retire from T20I after winning the 20-over World Cup, it remains speculated that his long career is coming to an end. Now, the BCCI will have to look for successors. Two names that have been mentioned frequently are Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.
Former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik has backed Gill as well as Pant for the all-format captaincy role because of their experience of leading IPL franchises and their captaincy skills.
The 25-year-old Shubman Gill, the opener, has been a revelation with his performances across all the three formats. Gill has been used as the Captain of the Indian cricket team earlier too. He has shown a good leadership quality, especially during the T20I series against Zimbabwe, where the team emerged victorious. 4-1. He can be considered as the one to groom him for the future leadership positions.
The journey of Gill has been quite steep, and he has performed well in both domestic and international cricket. His performances in IPL where he led the Gujarat Titans also his performances in Test and ODI has made him a three-format player.
However, Rishabh Pant who returned to cricket after a terrible car accident in December 2022 is also a candidate for the leadership position. The period of Pant’s comeback to the red-ball cricket beginning with the Duleep Trophy can be considered as a critical stage in his career. His previous performances especially during the Australian tour during the 2020-21 series show that he can captain the team in the future.
These young leaders are expected to perform well as India sets its sight on major global tours, including the test series against Bangladesh and the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar series in Australia.
